Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who’s fighting for a fifth term, says he’s never before run against an opponent who “speaks in code words.”

Reid was referring to his Republican opponent, Sharron Angle, whom he accuses of trying to eliminate Social Security, Medicaid, welfare and other government programs. Audio recordings that surfaced this week captured Angle calling government safety-net programs, along with divorce and abortion, symptoms of the nation’s “wicked ways.”

“You know, your viewers, they know names like Paul Laxalt, Jim Santini, John Ensign — these are just a few of the people I’ve run against. They all were able to speak in noncode words,” Reid said Thursday night on MSNBC’s “The Last Word With Lawrence O’Donnell.”

“Here is a person I’m running against, not these men I’ve talked about now — I’ve run against women also before, but nothing like this,” Reid added. “Never have I run against someone that speaks in code words that are not explainable. This is a situation that I have never, never come across.”

The Angle campaign could not immediately be reached for comment. But earlier this week, Angle spokesman Jarrod Agen said it was a “ridiculous leap” to interpret Angle’s words to mean that the government social safety net should be eliminated. More recently, Angle has vowed to preserve Social Security.

Reid said he sees things differently.

“I mean, this is really extreme and extremely dangerous,” Reid told O’Donnell. “This is a woman that just does not believe in government, period.”